Lovesick
by thisbemynickname
Summary: Ruby struggles with her feelings for Belle and conflict arises between them. Mostly angst with a bit of fluff. Takes place a few weeks after Belle loses her memory.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: The first scene is told from Mary Margaret's point of view. The rest of them are told from either Belle's or Ruby's.**

* * *

It was the nicest day it had been all month. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue-grey and the subtle wind was blowing ever so tranquilly. Mary Margaret was taking a walk by the harbor by herself, since her husband had taken Henry to a movie and Emma was still working. She enjoyed being able to do something like this by herself every once in a while, to clear her mind and contemplate.

She was about to turn around and head back home when she spotted her close friend Ruby sitting alone at the edge of the pier. She was wearing her light grey hood up and her slouched back hinted that she was feeling less than lively. Mary Margaret frowned and began to walk towards the young woman.

"Ruby?"

Ruby turned around and saw her friend advancing toward her with a concerned expression on her face.

"Oh, hey Mary Margaret. What are you doing here?"

"I was taking a walk and I saw you sitting here alone. Ruby, are you okay?"

"No, yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She certainly didn't appear fine. Her face was slightly red and stained with tears. She had definitely been crying recently and Mary Margaret was determined to help.

"Ruby, you're crying!"

"I'm not," she put her hand to her cheek and dabbed her skin to demonstrate, "see? No tears. I'm fine."

Mary Margaret sighed and sat down next to her on the edge of the pier. Ruby was staring into the distance with a wistful look. Her sorrow-filled eyes gazed in no particular direction.

"I can tell you're upset. You don't have to pretend you aren't," Ruby didn't respond, instead she looked down at their feet and sucked in her cheeks. "Okay, what if I guess? If I guess right, you have to tell me what's wrong. How about that?"

"Sure, whatever." she mumbled.

"Okay… is it something that happened at the diner?" Ruby shook her head.

"Does it have anything to do with the wolf?" Again, the woman denied.

"Did Granny say something?" No, once again.

"Is this about a guy?"

"No," Ruby chuckled meekly, "not exactly."

Thinking hard, Mary Margaret tried to recall what Ruby cared about most. She cared about her job. And Granny. And her friends.

"Is it about Belle?"

Silence. Ruby gritted her teeth and sighed.

"It's about Belle, isn't it?" The woman gave a small nod and looked away from Mary Margaret. The light breeze blowing through her long dark hair made the moment seem so dramatic, as if she were trapped by inescapable misery.

"Well, you know what? Everything's going to be just fine; we're still trying to find a way to get her memory back. She's learning everybody's name pretty quickly, actually. And Gold is going to take care of her."

Ruby didn't say anything, but did appear even more distressed at the last sentence. She inhaled deeply and silently let the air out. Her lip began to tremble, and it was clear that she was holding back and trying not to make a scene.

"Ruby?"

A tear began to fall down the woman's cheek. Mary Margaret suddenly understood why her friend was so distressed. She recalled how Ruby would often gaze at Belle in the diner, and look away whenever she was caught. She remembered how disgruntled she would get when Mr. Gold came into the diner, especially with Belle, and how she always disappeared when they walked in together. It was clear now. She had always suspected something, but never really pondered the possibility.

"Ruby, are you in love with Belle?"

And in that moment, Ruby broke down and buried her face in her hands. Mary Margaret scooted closer and wrapped her arms around her heartbroken friend. The waves crashed calmly, and there was an eerie and somber silence. They sat quietly with Ruby crying and Mary Margaret comforting her for several minutes.

The moment was interrupted by a familiar Australian voice coming a few feet behind the two women.

"Are you crying, Ruby?" Belle advanced and sat on the upset woman's other side, "What's wrong?"

Ruby almost choked on her tears and started to stand up and back away from the scene.

"I- I should be going. Granny is probably looking for me."

"Wait, Ruby!" It was too late. She was already racing away. Belle furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Did she say what was wrong?" Belle questioned. Mary Margaret hesitated and then shook her head, pretending to be unaware of why Ruby was so distressed.

"Did I do something? She left as soon as I got here."

"No, no, you didn't do anything wrong, Belle."

"Was it something that I did before I lost my memory?" Belle wondered, ignoring Mary Margaret's previous statement.

"Belle, you've done nothing wrong, okay?" With a pat on her back, the short-haired woman rose and decided to search for Ruby.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Belle walked up to the diner with the determination to convince Ruby to open up to her. The bell rang as she opened the door and glided through the opening.

She walked up to the counter with such confidence that she was receiving curious looks from several people.

"Can I get you anyth-" Ruby froze as soon as she turned around and saw who had walked in.

"I- uh, can I get you anything?" the taller woman avoided making eye contact.

"Yes, you can," Belle dictated. She put her hands on her hips and frowned, "you can tell me why you were crying yesterday." Ruby took a rag laying near and began wiping the counter. She kept her head down.

"You don't want an ice tea or anything?"

"Ruby!"

"No reason, okay? I was just having a bad day."

Belle closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them up again and sat down on one of the stools in front of the counter.

"I'm really tired of people treating me like some silly child who is on the outside of everything. Just because I can't remember anything doesn't mean I'm not a real person."

"Belle-"

"No, I'm not finished. You're the first friend I made before 'the incident' and I care about you. Please don't pull away. Tell me."

"I- I can't. I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine. You don't trust me." Belle stood up and walked out of the diner with disappointment.

Ruby stopped wiping the counter and stared in her direction. Everybody in the room had heard their conversation, but nobody said anything. Ruby didn't care.

But she did care about Belle.

* * *

It had been three days since Belle had stormed out of the diner, and she hadn't said a word to Ruby. She stopped visiting her in the diner every day for lunch. She didn't even make eye contact when they passed each other on the street.

"I'm sure this is just temporary, Ruby. She's not mad at you." Mary Margaret empathized, trying to comfort her lovesick friend. They were sitting at a booth at Granny's diner during Ruby's break. She had come in to check on the waitress, knowing about her situation.

"I just hope you're right. I miss her," Ruby sighed, "I mean, I know it's only been three days, but… you know…"

"I'm sure she'll come back around. She's a very forgiving person, you know."

"Maybe I should call her," Ruby wondered aloud, "or leave her a message."

"Are you sure, Ruby? You think you could…?"

Ruby shrugged, sighed, and shook her head.

"No… but I can't think of anything else. Even if she doesn't feel the same way back, I have to make things back to the way they were."

* * *

It was 10 pm on a Thursday evening and Belle had just finished work at the library. Actually, she finished work two hours ago, but she had gotten lost in a book, as always. She had closed the building up and was now walking home. It had been dull and rainy all week, and it was likely to continue for a while.

Belle didn't mind though. She had always enjoyed the rain, thought it was beautiful. The steady patter of the drops splashing on the ground. The petrichor that filled the air. The calm, wavering growl of thunder. Even the stunning shade of grey that was the sky. It was beautiful.

Belle unlocked her front door and stepped inside. Taking off her coat and setting down her umbrella, she noticed that there were five messages waiting for her on her answering machine.

Belle hesitated to listen to them. She considered ignoring them. But she couldn't.

She walked over and pressed the button.

"_Belle, please talk to me. I really hope you're still at the library and not just ignoring this. I really need to-"_

Next.

"_Please pick up, Belle! I'm sorry, I just n-"_

Next.

"_UGHH!"_

Next.

"_Ms. French, this is Dr. Whale from Storybrooke General Hospital telling you that your prescription is ready to be picked up anytime, so if you could-"_

Next.

"_Look. I understand why you're mad at me. I know everybody's been treating you like shit ever since… I mean, I've been treating you like shit. It's your choice to ignore me and I deserve it. Call me back whenever you want to. If you want to."_

Belle sighed and lay down on the couch. Her day had been rather nice, until she heard those messages. Now it was just confusing. She didn't know how she could get to sleep now.

Except she dozed off immediately.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Belle woke up on the floor. She must have been tossing and turning all night. Sleeping on a couch, there wasn't much room to toss and turn.

She got up, stretched her sore back, and walked towards the kitchen to make a cup of tea, when she remembered all those messages from the night before.

There were no new ones.

Part of her was hoping that Ruby had called again, so she could just hear her voice. Another part didn't think she would make it through the day if there really were another message.

Belle finished her tea and set it by the sink. She looked at the clock and noticed that she was supposed to be at the library ten minutes ago.

"Oh, hell!" She quickly got ready and rushed out the door.

It wasn't raining, but it looked like it would again later. She was just hoping for spring to come soon so she could read outside. It was always calming to be able to hear birds chirping in the background and to be warmed by the sun while she sat on a blanket and read to her heart's content.

Belle quickly made her way down to the library when she realized that she had forgotten her umbrella. It was too late to get it now that she was already halfway there. At least she had remembered her coat, she was always forgetting that. The last time she did, she caught a cold and was sniffling for a week, which must have been irritating to everybody in the-

"Oh!" Belle had crashed into somebody. She looked up and saw a pair of dazzling green eyes.

Ruby.

"Oh, sorry Belle, I was just-"

"No, it's fine, sorry."

And just like that, Belle rushed away, avoiding the situation. She could almost feel Ruby watching her walk away. She wanted to turn around, run back, and just hug Ruby, but she forced herself to keep moving forward.

* * *

Ruby couldn't take it anymore. She missed Belle so much that it was painful. It had only been a few days, but it felt like years.

Apparently, it was affecting her performance at work. She hadn't noticed, but Granny certainly did. She didn't have as much pep as usual and had even sassed the customers a couple of times.

But that would end now. Ruby couldn't depend on Belle to fix what they had, so she planned to personally confront her after she got off of work. She'd been rehearsing what she was going to say in her head all day.

Finally, at 9 o'clock, Granny decided to let her leave early, knowing how down she had been feeling lately. Ruby thanked her grandmother and stepped outside the diner.

It was pouring rain harder than it had been all week. She hadn't brought an umbrella. A fantastic start to the big confrontation she was about to make.

Taking deep breaths, Ruby hurried to Belle's house. She knew she should be home by now, considering she got off work an hour ago. But hopefully, she had been able to separate herself from a book. Ruby always thought that was adorable.

There it was. Belle's front door. She breathed in deeply and walked up to it. Her heart was beating faster and faster with every step. She was almost shaking. She tried to ignore all the worries running through her mind and focus on her mission.

She had to be honest with Belle. Completely honest.

She rang the doorbell and waited. She instantly felt a smidge of regret, but it was too late.

The door opened. There stood the most beautiful woman she had ever known, with her tempting lips and her soft skin. Her sparkling grey eyes that were so very easy to get lost in. And here was Ruby, soaking wet, standing helplessly in front of her.

Belle crossed her arms and opened her mouth to say something, but Ruby cut her off.

"I know. I'm an ass. I deserve whatever you're about to call me. Everybody's been acting like you're some outsider ever since you lost your memory. You're way better than that and you deserve to be treated with respect, which I haven't been doing. It's just, I'm not good at expressing how I feel."

There was a growl of thunder that grew and then faded in the distance.

"I guess I'm just afraid that people will judge me, which is why I rarely open up to people. But I hate not being honest with you. The thing is," Belle uncrossed her arms and leaned forward. Ruby braced herself for what she was about to say.

"I love you, Belle."

Belle's lips parted. She grabbed onto the doorframe to steady her self, and stared at the woman in front of her.

"I'll go now." Ruby turned around and started to walk away. She had almost reached the sidewalk when Belle was able to collect herself.

She rushed out of her house and into the rain, not caring about leaving the door open.

"Wait!" Ruby turned around, only to be surprised by Belle's lips crashing against her own.

The world felt right. She didn't even notice the rain anymore, it was nothing but Belle. She felt a soft palm press against her cheek, a thumb caressing her face. She wrapped her arms around Belle's waist, completely entranced by this kiss. The comforting warmth that was brought was enough to make her dizzy. It was perfect.

She was only awoken from her trance when Belle pulled away and gazed into her eyes, their faces only a couple inches apart. They were both soaking wet, but neither noticed. They only cared about each other.

"I love you, Ruby."

A big smile spread across Ruby's face as she moved closer and brushed her lips on Belle's.

"And… I remember. Everything."

Ruby's eyes widened and her smile grew even larger.

"True love's kiss…" Ruby whispered, her gaze soft and full of love.

Belle beamed and kissed her love again, neither of them wanting the moment to end.


End file.
